Kukla's Korner Hockey

"There’s never been a plan to expand to 32 teams," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told ESPN.com Wednesday morning. "Whether we talked conceptually at some point if things are going well whether we could expand to 32, I’m sure we suggested we could, but we certainly never reached the point where that was appropriate when Paul Kelly was executive director of the NHLPA and I’d say we haven’t got there at this point.

"I’d say any sports league aspires to be in a position where expansion is a good idea," added Daly. "But again, it’s got to be the right circumstances."

Daly figures Kelly is referring to conversations he would have had with the league during his time at the NHLPA, when the NHL was fighting off Jim Balsillie’s attempt to move the bankrupt Phoenix Coyotes to Southern Ontario, and the rules governing a second team in that area.

"And our position has consistently been that our rules do not give the Maple Leafs a right to veto another franchise in the Toronto territory," Daly said. "That’s something that the board of governors would decide, if the board decided it was a good idea."

2. Watching the Maple Leafs sue the NHL in an antitrust case to fight for their right to act an a manner that limits their competition is almost too funny to pass up.

The NHL’s constitution (provided it hasn’t been amended since 2009…and it very well could have been without our knowledge), gives each team domain within 50 miles of their own city and specifically states that “no franchise shall be granted for a home territory within the home territory of a member, without the written consent of such member.”